Thursday, 16 June 2016

Hi there everyone, are you all well?Well June got off to a great start didn't it? For most of of us it was wall to wall sunshine with lovely warm temperatures, just what the doctor ordered. Isn't it amazing how a bit of sunshine can make you smile.

Then came the rain and the thunder and lightning!!!!

Hopefully it hasn't dampened your creativeness! At least is gave you an excuse to head off to your crafting tables. Entries for this months challenge have been coming in slowly but we'd love to see more, especially with Fathers Day this weekend. Don't forget we also have the calendar challenge running alongside this one too, why not check it out.Did you all watch Maria Simms on Hochanda yesterday? Two fabulous shows and some gorgeous new Grooviitems too! Don't forget that this month sees the first two Open Days in Crowborough. Barbara would love to you and it's a great venue with stunning views. The design team will be there to welcome you with all day demo's, regular prize draws and of course the shop to purchase your Clarity goodies. Pop along to the website to purchase your ticket, it's a great couple of days out and you can purchase your lunch there as well.Here are some more works of art by the design team to help inspire you.

BLOG - if you have a blog, click on the blue froggy link below and follow the instructions, remembering to link to your blog post and not just your blog

EMAIL - if you don't have a blog you can send a photo of your project via email to us an we'll enter it for you

claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

If you have any questions relating to this challenge please don't hesitate to contact us. We will answer as quickly as we can in the the hope that we can make the Clarity Stamp Challenge go from strength to strength. We can't do this without you!

Friday, 3 June 2016

Before we go on to announce the winner and top 5 for challenge 39, we would just like to extend our gratitude to a member of the design team. Naomi Mahon has taken the decision to step down from the design team. She has been with us right from the very start and shared all of her fantastic artwork with us. Please join us in wishing her well and we're sure that she will keep popping in now and again to leave the odd comment.

Thank you for all you've done Naomi xx

Thank you to everyone who entered our ANYTHING GOES challenge which ran throughout May.

We had a wide variety of techniques entered into the challenge as well as some newcomers to the challenge as well. It's always nice to see our crafting family expand and we look forward to seeing more of you in future challenges.

We always say that each challenge gets more and more difficult to judge and this month was no exception. Most of the design team have commented that this one was particularly difficult to pick a top 5.

We hope you enjoy browsing through all of the other entries which may give you some ideas for future projects.

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Our winner is chosen at random to give everyone a chance regardless of their ability, standard and how long they've been crafting. We thought this was the fairest way all around. So...

Thursday, 2 June 2016

This months calendar challenge is entitled HARMONY with a beautiful parchment piece from Barbara for the month of June.

Historians believe that parchment craft originated as an art form in Europe during the 15th or 16th century. Parchment craft at that time occurred principally in Catholic communities where crafts persons created lace-like items.Although the invention of the printing press led to a reduced interest in hand made cards and items, by the 18th century, people were regaining interest in detailed handiwork. Parchment cards became larger in size and crafters began adding wavy borders and perforations.In the 19th century, influenced by French romanticism, parchment crafters began adding floral themes and cherubs and hand embossing. The introduction of the Groovi system has opened up this art to a wider audience as the plates are etched in a way that you cannot go through the parchment. For most traditional parchers this is the most difficult part and has put a lot of people off this art at that point.So this month is your opportunity to hone those skills you may already be exploring or for those of you who have not tried to be bold and have a go - perhaps you have a friend or relative who has the plates that you can lend so that you can have a go?The Groovi system is easy to use and brings this traditional delicate craft in to the modern world - don't forget to look in the Groovi Section on the web site for the vast array of plates, tools and the very recently added lightwave box and coloured parchment.We look forward to receiving your entries.

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There are several ways of entering the challenge:

BLOG - if you have a blog, click on the blue froggy link below and follow the instructions, remembering to link to your blog post and not just your blog

EMAIL - if you don't have a blog you can send a photo of your project via email to us an we'll enter it for you

claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

If you have any questions relating to this challenge please don't hesitate to contact us. We will answer as quickly as we can in the the hope that we can make the Clarity Stamp Challenge go from strength to strength. We can't do this without you!

We hope you have fun with this challenge and we can't wait to see your projects. You have until 20.00 on 30th June (GMT) to enter.

Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Hi there everyone and welcome to the new challenge for June! June I hear you say - really? It's the middle of the year already! Where do the months go?

June heralds the start of the long summer evenings as we edge towards the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. BBQ season hopefully begins in earnest, where our men folk are the Kings of cooking. How many men do you know who like to boast about their prowess on the BBQ?

June also hosts Fathers Day, so what better theme could we go for this months challenge than...

Masculine

Many crafters often struggle with making cards or works of art for the men and boys in their lives, so here is your opportunity to put your thinking caps on, and using all the mediums across the Clarity range, WOW us with your makes. To give you an idea, in the stamps section we have various option. You may wish to consider sports, a great Harley motorbike, or perhaps the men in your lives like gardening? In the stencils section there are many designs to choose from that range from abstract to cogs. Then it's over to the Groovi section where the musical notes might take your fancy or the fishermen would love the carp. Whatever you choose, we look forward to receiving your artwork. Please take time to check out the Design Teams inspirational works this month, don't forget you can click on their names or their artwork to take you to their individual blogs. Don't forget we also have the calendar challenge running alongside this one each month. If you've not taken part yet why not make this your first one?

BLOG - if you have a blog, click on the blue froggy link below and follow the instructions, remembering to link to your blog post and not just your blog

EMAIL - if you don't have a blog you can send a photo of your project via email to us an we'll enter it for you

claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

If you have any questions relating to this challenge please don't hesitate to contact us. We will answer as quickly as we can in the the hope that we can make the Clarity Stamp Challenge go from strength to strength. We can't do this without you!

We hope you have fun with this challenge and we can't wait to see your projects. You have until 20.00 on 30th June (GMT) to enter.